Poker Face
by Kratos Wilder
Summary: Because poker is all about being able to read a person. But then again, so was love. [AxC][HxP]


**::A/N::** What is happening peeps!? It feels like centuries since I have been on here. I blame my crashing computer. Lost all my chapters for my stories and few random oneshots I had written, along with my motivation, creativity, and hope for life. My apologies.

I had this random burst of creativity when I was reading threads on tumblr for Tales of Graces and saw some really cute side-manga stories. This idea actually came from the skit in the game, where the girls were talking about playing poker once Fodra was back to normal. So, I decided on this!

**Info:** This deals from Cheria's POV, as she seems on the same brain wavelength as me. Although I did my best to make it relationship balanced, I'm extremely biased towards Hubert and Pascal than Cheria and Asbel. So I spent a little more on the one than the other.

Also, the game of poker can be played many ways. I have them playing 5-hand poker, and doing betting rounds after they have their hand. It was how I started playing. A side note that I might not have made clear in the actual story: one does not "win" a round unless the other players bid. Not typical in any poker game, but it went in with the story, so accept it.

**Location:** Amarcian Enclave

**Time:** Two months after the end of the game.

Okay enough chatter: Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Tales of Graces. If I did, the sopheria blossoms across the world would have been able to speak.

* * *

**Poker Face**

"I win."

Cheria and Pascal sighed in defeat.

"Sophie, you're a little too good at this." Sophie simply stared back at her as Pascal gathered the cards for another round. "You've won too many games for this to be a coincidence."

Sophie cocked her head to the side. "But you have won just as many games, Cheria."

"And you should totally let me win once!" Pascal exclaimed from beside her. "Just once! _Pleeeease_!?"

Cheria laughed quietly. "You have a terrible poker face, Pascal, and that's why you can't win. Every time you get excited, we know you have a good hand and we quit before the game even begins."

The older girl shuffled the cards in her hands. "Yeah, but, I'm not good at lying and stuff, ya know?"

Cheria's gaze sharpened. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"It's like," Pascal stopped shuffling, acting deep in thought. "Like, when I know I have a winning hand, I'm like _woohoo_! And then, when I've got a bad hand, I'm all _nooooo_! Because if I get excited over a bad hand, I'm totally lying! I don't lie."

Sophie nodded her head at her logic, but Cheria slapped herself. "That's the point of the game. You have to be able to make the other people think you have nothing when you, in fact, have a good hand. It makes them put more money down that you can win."

Pascal frowned. "Then I'm like, stealing.?"

Thankfully, Sophie spoke up to end the argument. "Cheria, what's a 'poker face'?"

She turned to Sophie to explain. "It's kind of like, hiding your emotions. You don't let anyone know if you're happy or sad or anything. In games like this, you need to be able to read your opponents' faces to be able to decide what you are going to do."

She watched Sophie as Pascal began to deal another hand, still seeming confused. So, she sat closer to Sophie and whispered, "Watch and learn."

It was only quiet for a few seconds, but when all three of them examined the hand they had been dealt, Pascal couldn't contain her excitement.

"Yeah, I'm totally gonna win this round!"

"See, Sophie," Cheria began, "That's a bad poker face. If you have a good hand, you aren't supposed to say so. Especially because," she said quietly, "I have nothing."

She could tell that Sophie still didn't quite understand, but she nodded anyway. Pascal smiled and began the first round of bets. "I will raise this baby by ten bananas!"

Cheria immediately put her hand down. "Sophie, I wouldn't play this round if I were you. It seems Pascal has a really good hand." Thankfully, Sophie followed suit, and neither of them fell into the bidding pool, much to Pascal's displeasure.

"Hey, come on you guys!" she whined. "I wanna win, too!" She placed her cards face-up on the table. "I even had a full house!"

Cheria shook her head. "You're way too excited. If we know you're going to win, why would we play?"

"You didn't know what I had."

"You were willing to bet ten bananas, Pascal. You usually only offer a half of one."

"So," Sophie asked. "If you give up ten bananas, you have a bad poker face?"

Cheria sighed. "No, Sophie. It's the idea. If you never bet anything, then suddenly bet everything you have, it's a little suspicious to the other players." Then she stopped, trying to think of a better way to approach the issue. "It's like..." She drew a blank. Surely there was some way to help Sophie understand better.

"It's like you and Asbel!"

Cheria nearly jumped out of her skin. Her face burning, she turned to Pascal. "H-hey! This is _not_ the same thing!"

Then came Sophie's response. "Cheria, why is your face red? Do you have a bad poker face?"

Oh, she needed to change the subject fast or she would lose her sanity. Not that it wasn't known that Asbel was finally coming around, he still wasn't...all the way around. He would still do things that would annoy her, and he would act completely clueless when she was trying to talk to him about her feelings. In a secret, coded way, of course. She lowered her head; maybe Pascal was right. Asbel did have one hell of a poker face when it came to their relationship.

But this was a simple card game! She did not need Sophie to learn about the idea of a poker face from her and Asbel! She wasn't like Captain Malik, or Richard! She would teach her the true meaning without using relationships!

"That is not the same thing, Sophie."

"Sure it is!" Pascal chimed. "See how she's totally red and stuff? That's because she's all lovey-dovey kissy-huggy when it comes to Asbel!"

_Lovey-dovey...what?! _When did Pascal become so observant of her love life?! For all she thought, Pascal didn't even know they were an item!

She caught Sophie nod at her statement. "You have a good poker face, but you do not have a good love face, Cheria."

Cheria choked on her own breath. What had Sophie just said? A good _love_ face? She really needed to tell the Captain to stop talking with her alone...

"It's okay," Sophie said in her silence, patting her shoulder gently. "Pascal has a bad poker face, so she might have a bad love face, too."

In her stunned silence, Pascal threw her hands behind her head, smiling. "Aw, look mom! The kid's learnin'!"

Cheria snapped out of her daze, eager to finally kill this conversation, but Sophie spoke first.

"Do you have a bad love face, Pascal?"

Cheria felt a smile form on her face at the question...until Pascal threw her arms around an unsuspecting Sophie, crushing her in a hug.

"Of course, silly! How could I not when I'm totally in love with you!?"

Cheria decided to go out on a limb and see if she could catch some sort of reaction from the girl. She reminded herself that this _was_ Pascal, and she was likely going to get nothing. But, if she had to take bragging rights in something, it was her ability to read people.

"I thought you were falling in love with Hubert?"

She was quite surprised when Pascal caught her gaze with a straight face. "Hu?"

Cheria smiled. It wasn't nothing, but it wasn't as much as she had hoped for. She had to keep digging. "I overheard your sister say that he was all you ever talked about now."

The older girl returned her smile with one of her own. "Well, yeah! I mean, we're always talkin' and stuff. He said that there were some super-evil-scary monster guys running around, so I asked my sis to help!"

That got her nowhere."It must be hard living in two separate countries."

Cheria just got a blank stare. "...What is?"

She slapped herself again. "For you to have to live here in Fendel while Hubert lives in Strahta!"

Her look didn't change. "It's not hard. I've always lived here! It's just a little cold, and..."

"No!" Cheria shouted, causing Pascal to release her hold on Sophie. "That's not what I meant! Don't you ever want to go see him? Don't you miss him when he's not with you?!"

Pascal scratched the back of her head, then slapped her fist into her palm, as if a light bulb had appeared in her mind. "We should totally go see Hu! When do you wanna go?!"

Cheria exhaled deeply and slowly. She had to admit, either Pascal had a damn good "love" face, or she was really that clueless.

Sophie came to her rescue. "Pascal, you have a good love face."

The other girl simply brushed it off. "Meh, if you say so. Now, when are we leaving?"

Cheria couldn't take it anymore. She _had_ to know what she really felt. She closed the distance between her and Pascal and as soon as they were face to face, she asked, "Do you love him?"

Pascal was quiet for a few moments, probably surprised by her question, or her sudden approach, or both.

"...Who?"

It took every ounce of strength to keep herself calm. "Oh, come on, Pascal! You're hiding behind your so-called affection for Sophie to hide the fact that you really like Hubert! You were acting completely over the top when you said you were in love with Sophie, and then the second Hubert is mentioned, you act like a different person! That's a poker face, Pascal! A good one!"

Pascal continued to stare at Cheria for a few seconds before she smiled and threw her arms behind her head. "Does this mean I win?!"

She would never understand what went on in her head. "You're unbelievable, Pascal. I'll never be able to understand you." Then, she added, "And I'll never understand why Hubert keeps talking to you," to elicit some sort of reaction from her.

"Because," Pascal replied, her eccentric grin reducing to a real smile. "He totally has a bad poker face! Kinda like you, ya know?" She was about to protest, but she continued. "And Asbel probably has a good one, like me! So we all go well together! Like chocolate and bananas!"

Cheria gave her a confused look. "Chocolate and bananas?"

"Yeah! Don't they sound _soooooo_ good right now?!"

Of course... "What does that have to do with any of this, Pascal?"

"With what?"

Her forehead was going to have a bruise in the morning. "Of this whole poker face ordeal?"

Thankfully, she was able to recall why she had brought it up in the first place. She smiled sheepishly and laughed apologetically. "Oh, right. It's kinda like this: They are both really good by themselves, but they are even better when they are together! Or...something like that..."

Cheria had to keep telling herself that someone either poisoned her dinner, drugged her drink, or some weird gas had escaped from one of Pascal's contraptions into the room. There was _no_ way that the girl standing before her was Pascal. Heaven forbid her logic was a bit farfetched, she sadly understood it. However, she felt content with the revelation, and decided that it was all she was really going to get out of her.

Sophie touched her shoulder to snap her out of her thoughts. "Cheria, do I have a good love face, or a bad love face?"

It took her a few extra seconds to realize that Sophie had spoken to her, but then she smiled and sat back in her chair, collecting the cards scattered on the table for another round of poker.

"How about we work on your poker face first?"

Sophie nodded and smiled her innocent smile and took a seat across from her. "Okay!"

"Come on, Pascal," Cheria called, seeing that the girl had disappeared in her dazed state. "We are going to play another round."

A few moments later, Pascal appeared in the doorway, looking at them with confusion. "I thought you wanted to go to Strahta?"

"We are working on our poker face," Sophie responded. "You should work on yours, too."

Pascal lowered her shoulders. "But I totally wanted to go!"

"We aren't stopping you," Cheria said, dealing out the cards between the two of them.

"Aww, but I thought you were coming with me!"

Cheria smiled at her. "Go see your man, Pascal. I'm sure he would love to see you again."

She then turned her attention back to the game with Sophie. Maybe Pascal's "love" face wasn't as good as she had hoped it would have been. Cheria was able to see right through it.

"...Who?"

Or maybe it was a little too good.

* * *

And...scene!

Just a little something cute I had in my head for a while now. Hopefully, everyone stayed well in character, as it's kinda a pet-peeve of mine. Meh.

Until next time!

_Kratos Wilder_


End file.
